Palmers on Pattayaland 2 closed?

[Butch 3,456]

Hi,

I read elsewhere that Palmers has shut and is closed for good. For me that's sad news cos I always enjoyed a yarn with Bob, as well as frequently having Sunday lunch there whenever I was in town. I hope it was because Bob wanted to retire rather than financial problems.

 

It's also a sign that if not already, has sounded the final death knell for what was once possibly the best street in town, which IMHO was also at one point a viable alternative to Walking Street. Gone are the days of the following GoGo's: Bubbles, Rodeo Girls, Lipstick, Popcorn, All Girls and Planet Rock / Venus (still got T shirts from all of them), along with Classroom (still holding on), Emergency and Mistys (later Legs), Kitten Club and even when Miss Dino's was often standing room only, Spicy girls was on Pattayaland 1 and a half decent Go Go worth a visit in its own right (served the best "White Russians" in town)

 

I know Classroom and possibly one half of the GoGo attached to the Penthouse (other half being a ladyboy club) are the only female clubs on the street now. I think the Classroom is holding on due to customer loyalty only, and to be honest the writing was on the wall for this street a long time ago.

 

Such a shame.

 

 

 

 

 

[Billions 687]

Wasn't most of the go-gos here owned/managed by the same guy/guys....once thay lost their mojo then their empire folded like a cheap suit?

 

Apparently Palmers is open,moved across the street and is halved in size.

 

The gay club next door to the new Palmers has closed but could reopen at any point as they are looking for new tennants...and the reclusive bossman is still in residence above,in his tower but minus his bodyguard (so the strange story goes).

 

The eccentric Brit who owns the Penthouse/Obsessions/Kitten enterprise is still there,as is the cynical old fella who owns the Shamrock opposite...but never the twain meet.

 

Plenty of stories to be heard in that neck of the woods!

[Butch 3,456]

Hi billions

 

Yep you're right, the Bubbles, All girls, Lipstick, Rodeo, Popcorn, Planet Rock / Venus and also the Restaurant "Old Orleans" were owned by an American guy called "Steve" and his wife "Nisachol" (Gop). The yarn I heard from him was that in the currency crash of 97/98 he had just sold his business in the US and then snapped up several empty / to let units on Pattayaland 2 under his wife's name. He developed these into GoGo bars and they had a winning streak between 99 through to about 2004 / 05, even managing to weather Purachai's social order campaign.

 

Unusually they never exploited the internet, what websites were available for the bars were basically reports from the forums at the time.

 

My part in all this was that I was once sat in Planet Rock all on my own and got chatting to whom I thought was the Mamasan, but was in fact Nisachol (the owner), after a bit of a long yarn and several Blue Margaritas I got to know her and Steve after a while.

She had a taste for Moet and as I could get it relatively cheap back then I always brought her a few bottles during my sojourns, and as such a good friendship developed, however it all got a bit complicated when she arranged for Andy from Mistys to get beaten up by a couple of thugs (link in pattaya mail if you google "Andy Dixon Pattaya") over a business issue, and paid them to torch his BMW, unfortunately she also owned a BMW and forgot to tell "rent-a-somchai" which one to torch, and they did hers by mistake, but they managed to get the right person to hit with the steel pipes though, lucky for Andy his wife Pehn was there to stick a heel in the eye of one of them.

Andy is a very close friend of mine (and remains so) so as one might expect, my loyalties lied with him, and my association with "Gop" ended there and then.

 

As an epilogue , I later found out that she wanted to have kids but Steve didn't, so she (with his blessing) had artificial insemination via one of her bodyguards, but they decided to cut out the "artificial" bit. They then split up, divided the business and sold off / leased the properties. Gop is actually an expert in Koi Carp and tropical fish and makes (or made) a fortune in breeding them, Steve, i have no idea what became of him but he was a very nice bloke all the same.

 

For me, I still have the blessed Amulet Gop gave me and the Antique brass rice bowl, along with the knowledge that the amulet must work cos things could have turned out a shite sight worse if I'd hung around longer than I did.

 

Cheers

Butch

[Billions 687]

Steve might be the bizarre character holed-up in the appartment at the top of the building which had the gay club on the ground floor (next to Cheers)...word was he is a virtual recluse,in terrible health and has psychiatric issues....but that might be "spin" from my storyteller. He still owns that building,if indeed it is him.

 

Now,that Dudley character from Penthouse/Obsessions/Kitten Club...any juicy anecdotes about him??????

[Butch 3,456]

Thinking about it Steve probably is the same guy, he's a slightly built man, short black hair (slicked back when I knew him) and speaks in a slightly "nasal" tone. To be fair he was quite an affable kind of bloke when I knew him, generous and thoughtful and eager to share his business knowledge. I know they owned rather than leased the buildings as he always told me that renting was "dead money". He always struck me as slightly eccentric, wearing a long sleeved shirt and tie , trousers and shoes for breakfast and all day long, changing his shirt in the evening. I hope he's ok, I knew he truly loved Gop and her leaving him probably fucked him up. then again, 18+ years living in Pattaya is enough to fuck anyone up.

 

I knew Gop always thought there was bigger money in Gay bars than straight, and they sought to change the face of Ptty2 by opening some Gay bars to compete with Boyztown but with the plan of creating a larger Gay area. (Actually, I'd like to ask any newbie if they even know where Boyztown is). Back then Boyztown was enjoying good business, high numbers of customers and also managed to pre date the 1000 baht Barfine before any of the Walking Street big guns had even considered upping it from 600 (don't ask me how I know LOL). Gop thought that by expanding the choice it would spell success, because at the time the Gay area of town was (possibly still is - I wouldn't know) was the top end of Pattayaland 1 and boyztown divided by the "straight" Pattayaland 2, so by making a few Gay bars on Ptty2 she would make her businesses "central" to Boyztown and Ptty1.

 

That was the logic that didn't work out. IMO I think they threw caution to the wind and instead of balancing the ratio, closed Lipstick, leased the rest making Planet Rock (or Jupiter) and Rodeo Gay Bars, hoping the customers would migrate. They didn't. By then the damage was done, and Ptty2 had lost most of its neon and decent GoGo bars. They were fucked.

 

From then it was just a matter of time. Walking Street was beginning to enjoy some really good GGB's, big money was moving into town and as always, reputation was doing its bit. There was an influx of really good managers, Mistys moved out of Ptty2, Heavens above, Living dolls, Dollhouse, Club Electric Blue and suchlike began to lure the punters away and people like myself shyed away from Pattayaland 2 and moved to the WS venues, along with many of the girls.

 

As for Dudley, I can honestly say I've ever met him. The only bloke I ever met or spoke to with regard the Penthouse was a ginger haired chap whose name I forget (even then it was just a friendly "hello" in the morning), although I used to stay at the PH regularly back in the day, but when Pete managed to get a discount at the Residence I stayed there for subsequent trips.

 

I often drank in the Shamrock, usually as a precursor to a trip to yodsak, Shamrock was up for sale about 10 years ago iirc. It was an odd crowd back then, mostly Expats of varying opinions regarding the Socio-political situation in Northern Ireland.

 

Shame really, I miss the nights spent on Pattayaland 1 and 2. One might say that had Top Class marketed and sustained their clubs aggressively, employed good managers and kept up with the times, it might have stopped LK Metro from becoming as successful as it has. Who knows.

Edited February 15, 2015 by Butch

[Billions 687]

Andy Dixon.....not the guy with the same name who was a tattooist in Kensington Market in the late 80s? If so,he was a very loose cannon...but then that name is probably a very common one.

 

The story I heard regarding the fall from great financial heights of Steve & Co was that they had a policy of bill padding or not giving change or some such shennanigans with most of their customers,resulting in mass withdrawal of their once regular customers. And sometimes trying to charge entry fees?? I'll check that out next time I'm there,as the story was an interesting one and seemed plausible. Like they imploded from sharp business practise.

 

Another character from that "manor" was the Scottish bloke who owned The Kennel...a place made famous as it was the watering hole of Derrick Bird,the Cumbrian assassin who went on the rampage in Whitehaven a few years ago,wiping out fellow taxi drivers with a long gun. Bird apparently found true love with one of the Kennel floozies.

 

Must say,I found the Kennel to be one of the most run down bars in Pattaya,which is saying something!

[Butch 3,456]

Andy "Dixon" - Andy from Mistys, still very much involved with Mistys from what I hear and back in the 80's was probably in his late teens (pssst...I was just leaving school in 86), so not the same tattooist bloke. Andy is a scally from Liverpool, popular figure in town, once owned "beavers" on walking Street and "Legs" which was previously Mistys on Ptty2. Good personal friend and not a bad bloke, but with breath bad enough to knock a buzzard off a shitpile :) .

 

The "Top Class" group was "hands on" managed by Gop and owned by her and Steve, I can't confirm any rumours regarding entry or bill padding, but let's face it, pretty much all the bars were trying it on back then, in fact, it was the ones who didn't pad the bills that got a special mention...

 

I don't recall them ever charging for entrance during regular times except for one Christmas Eve when 200 baht got you entry and a drink. Possibly not a popular strategy but there was no shortage of punters, myself included. However, that's not to say they wouldn't have tried it on.

Ultimately though I think it was a mixture of poor planning, bad business practices (the most expensive drinks on the street - although at the time of 70 baht to the £ it didn't really matter at all) , trying to alter a successful formula and lack of understanding.

Ironically, if Gop had allowed Steve to run the businesses they'd probably be successful even today. Odd really, because a lot of bars go to the wall through greed or mismanagement, but to manage to get 6 to go tits up probably takes a special level of ineptitude. I honestly think the Restaurant (Old Orleans) survived only because it was Filipino staffed and managed back then.

 

As for the Kennel, was that the joint just down from the Blue Parrot?. If so I think it's one I tended to avoid or maybe might have visited once, probably a good thing, given the clientele!. My regular haunts on Ptty1 and 2 were Spicy girls, Mistys, all the Top Class establishments, Shamrock, Palmers, Miss Dino's and Classroom / Emergency. Only Classroom, Shamrock and Miss Dino's remain.

[MM 6,562]

I recall the restaurant as "Cafe New Orleans"..something like that, never heard "Old Orleans" before.

I once saw Steve when I was in one of the gogos across the street from the restaurant, Jupiter, as I recall. He came in with several bodyguards who first inspected the men's room to see no-one was there, then stood outside blocking anyone one from entering while Steve did his business.

 

I also knew Andy then, and immediately took a dislike to Steve from that incident.

[atlas2 4,329]

I like Dudley ………Can talk with him for hours. His recounting is filled with terrific insights into the past, present and future of Pattaya.

 

I last stayed at the Penthouse in April 2014 and my mate, (a first-timer over from England after his wife of 35+ years died), well he was knocked out by it and found 'The Classroom' opposite a convenient place to both watch his beloved Chelsea and stock his Jacuzzi.

 

As a visitor to Thailand I always spent some time staying there and the Penthouse has many special memories for me………In those days I kept a photo record of the hello girls from Rodeo….Bubbles…….Lipstick and WS dancers passing through the revolving door of my room………Sometime later I destroyed those photographs………It felt like a sordid 'butterfly collection' I wish I hadn't done that now, it would be nice to still be able to reminisce about those girls that I've long since forgotten.

 

Of course there are moments enjoyed in The Penthouse when I've felt I wouldn't want to be anywhere else on Earth... and I don't need photos to recall them…. they are scorched onto my retina.

 

I can still see The Malibu's number one lady dancer, dressed in a bikini she'd creatively fashioned with the Jacuzzi bubbles that clung to her perfect body…... covered but unfettered …… She danced for me alone on the pole set amidst the mirrors at the water's edge……While I lounged back with a cool drink watching the disco lights change the colour of her bikini and skin-tone….. Her expert undulations, the music, the warm ripples on my skin, the coolness of the beer and the raging boner made for the most perfect of moments. I remember thinking, "atlas my son, this is too good to be true!"

 

………That's when I spotted crimson speckle the bubbles between her legs……."Ah well not perfect then…….. we'll just have to make do"

 

The Penthouse is a treasure……….Long may it last………Well longer than I did that night!

Edited February 16, 2015 by atlas2

[teelack 9,645]

As pointed out in a recent TR Palmers has moved across the street.

[atlas2 4,329]

Someone neg'd the above post ……..You have a phantom 'neggar' following you Teelack.

[Butch 3,456]

Hi

MM you're right, "Old Orleans" is the name of a restaurant me and a few BM's from PattayaBarGirls used to meet up in when back in the UK. "Cafe New Orleans" is the one on pattayaland2 and the one I meant. I'm getting both nostalgic and senile.

 

Atlas, great memories and nicely recounted! I used to enjoy my times in the PH, but found the rooms a bit too cluttered and the bloody phone ringing in the hallway at 0700 every morning pissed me off. I've got some fond memories of staying there though. How are the rooms these days?. Is the GoGo downstairs still linked as part of the Hotel?.

 

Teelack, fixed the -1 for you, however. Glad to hear Bob is still in business.

Edited February 16, 2015 by Butch

[misteregg 709]

Palmers has moved over the road. I prefer the smaller venue, as the food is still the same top quality. However,, I asked the staff and they don't like it. Thai people hate change.,

[9cisco999 107]

Andy "Dixon" - Andy from Mistys, still very much involved with Mistys from what I hear and back in the 80's was probably in his late teens (pssst...I was just leaving school in 86), so not the same tattooist bloke. Andy is a scally from Liverpool, popular figure in town, once owned "beavers" on walking Street and "Legs" which was previously Mistys on Ptty2. Good personal friend and not a bad bloke, but with breath bad enough to knock a buzzard off a shitpile :) .

 

The "Top Class" group was "hands on" managed by Gop and owned by her and Steve, I can't confirm any rumours regarding entry or bill padding, but let's face it, pretty much all the bars were trying it on back then, in fact, it was the ones who didn't pad the bills that got a special mention...

 

I don't recall them ever charging for entrance during regular times except for one Christmas Eve when 200 baht got you entry and a drink. Possibly not a popular strategy but there was no shortage of punters, myself included. However, that's not to say they wouldn't have tried it on.

Ultimately though I think it was a mixture of poor planning, bad business practices (the most expensive drinks on the street - although at the time of 70 baht to the £ it didn't really matter at all) , trying to alter a successful formula and lack of understanding.

Ironically, if Gop had allowed Steve to run the businesses they'd probably be successful even today. Odd really, because a lot of bars go to the wall through greed or mismanagement, but to manage to get 6 to go tits up probably takes a special level of ineptitude. I honestly think the Restaurant (Old Orleans) survived only because it was Filipino staffed and managed back then.

 

As for the Kennel, was that the joint just down from the Blue Parrot?. If so I think it's one I tended to avoid or maybe might have visited once, probably a good thing, given the clientele!. My regular haunts on Ptty1 and 2 were Spicy girls, Mistys, all the Top Class establishments, Shamrock, Palmers, iss Dino's and Classroom / Emergency. Only Classroom, Shamrock and Miss Dino's remain.

 

 

 

 

"Good personal friend and not a bad bloke, but with breath bad enough to knock a buzzard off a shitpile :)" And if he didn't know before, he can't deny it now. 555

[monkeyman 1,604]

Palmers has moved over the road. I prefer the smaller venue, as the food is still the same top quality. However,, I asked the staff and they don't like it. Thai people hate change.,

 

I think we all found that out the first time we gave a 20 baht note to a baht bus driver...

[parry 58]

Ive only eaten at Palmers once and the chips were soggy and tasted of oil, They were that bad I never returned, many people rate it though.

[cbrib 354]

Anyone heard if Bob is still doing catering?

[RhinoTusk 4,901]

I remember Cafe New Orleans was a great place for all-u-can-eat bbq chicken and ribs. Steve was having a benefit for the tsunami victims when Gary from Alamo bar introduced us. I believe he was a lawyer from Reno. The best thing about his bars they were open on Buddhist holidays, without alcohol, but you could bar fine.

 

 

 

[atlas2 4,329]

Someone neg'd the above post ..You have a phantom 'neggar' following you Teelack.

And my one's back......

[teelack 9,645]

And my one's back......

 

Well aware Atlas and I also try to put things right wherever possible. (and have just done so)

Edited February 19, 2015 by teelack

[teelack 9,645]

Someone neg'd the above post ……..You have a phantom 'neggar' following you Teelack.

 

Whilst on the subject, the Phantom Negger even felt that he had to neg my trip report. That's a first in being mean spirited as far as I can recall. My TR's may be boring, lack lustre or even repetative but they are a personal reflection of a day in Pattaya from one travellers point of view.No one need read them but I am aware that some enjoy being kept up to date on the trivia that is part of the Pattaya experience.

[Butch 3,456]

 

Whilst on the subject, the Phantom Negger even felt that he had to neg my trip report. That's a first in being mean spirited as far as I can recall. My TR's may be boring, lack lustre or even repetative but they are a personal reflection of a day in Pattaya from one travellers point of view.No one need read them but I am aware that some enjoy being kept up to date on the trivia that is part of the Pattaya experience.

The board is better for TR's and the day to day stuff about Pattaya is still interesting, the effort that goes into them and time taken to share information is appreciated. It's a bit childish to neg someone's post just because of a previous argument, fall out or difference of opinion, and it's good to see that a good few of us put it right when it happens. If someone disagrees or doesn't like a TR they should really have the bollocks to say so and why, I expect their opinion might not be agreed with but it will still be respected.

[jacko 8,822]

The board is better for TR's and the day to day stuff about Pattaya is still interesting, the effort that goes into them and time taken to share information is appreciated. It's a bit childish to neg someone's post just because of a previous argument, fall out or difference of opinion, and it's good to see that a good few of us put it right when it happens. If someone disagrees or doesn't like a TR they should really have the bollocks to say so and why, I expect their opinion might not be agreed with but it will still be respected.

Critical responses to trip reports tend to get moderated closely, flame free and all that.

I wouldn't get too worried by the odd negger, it will be more than compensated for, and we all have more +s than -s available to us.

Edited February 20, 2015 by jacko

[The_Fat_Controller 25]

cbrib, I spoke to Bob last night and it's business as usual regarding his outside catering.

 

The bar menu is exactly the same as it was prior to the move across the road.

[Parkwahn 61]

Whilst on the subject, the Phantom Negger even felt that he had to neg my trip report. That's a first in being mean spirited as far as I can recall. My TR's may be boring, lack lustre or even repetative but they are a personal reflection of a day in Pattaya from one travellers point of view.No one need read them but I am aware that some enjoy being kept up to date on the trivia that is part of the Pattaya experience.

Don't sweat the Phantom neggars, I have one who logs on daily to give me negs... It's pretty funny to see, but what is the poor saps mind like lol...